In the food industry there are many occasions when it is desirable to combine diverse food products to produce a composite food product having enhanced consumer appeal. In such a composite product it generally is desirable from both the aesthetic and the taste standpoint to maintain the separate identity of each of the component materials. A significant problem can arise, however, when the diverse component materials combined have different moisture contents. In these circumstances, fluid may migrate from a component which has a high moisture content to the other component which has a lower moisture content. This problem is particularly severe in the case of products containing baked, dough-based components which consumers expect to have a relatively dry texture. The incorporation of high moisture food components such as jams, jellies, sauces and the like as fillings or toppings to baked products can result in excessive migration of fluids into the baked good component. This not only adversely affects the separate identity of the components but can render the baked component unacceptably moist or soggy, especially where the product is stored at room temperature for an extended period between preparation and consumption.
In attempting to overcome the problem of moisture migration, the prior art has turned to various coating and interlaying techniques. See, for example, Calia U.S. Pat. No. 2,363,395; Forkner U.S. Pat. No. 2,878,127; and Haas et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,043. These techniques, however, generally require complicated processing steps utilizing costly apparatus and materials and as a result these methods have not proven successful. Accordingly, it would be of great value to the food industry if a process could be provided which would simply and inexpensively provide composite food materials of this type with the ability to substantially resist fluid migration across component interfaces.